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April 21, 2018

Dassault Reports Rafale Progress in India

The training of Indian pilots and maintenance personnel in preparation
for delivery of Rafale fighters is in progress in France, Dassault
Aviation chairman and CEO Eric Trappier told AIN in describing progress
with the Indian air force contract for 36 Rafale fighters. He also
commented on the latest Indian request for information (RFI) for more
new fighters while visiting India as head of a delegation from the
French Aerospace Industries Association (French acronym: GIFAS).
However, Trappier made only passing reference to the financial and legal
troubles that have recently beset the Reliance Group, Dassault’s
partner in India for the Rafale contract.

In addition to the
training in France, India is preparing a hangar at the Reliance Defence
facility at Nagpur, where parts for the Rafale are being made, with
deliveries to start this year. Dassault Aviation has started looking for
more offset partners. Major subcontractors to the French manufacturer
that have already tied up with Indian companies include engine maker
Safran and Dassault Systèmes, providing 3D modeling and product
lifecycle management (PLM) software. Thales announced last year it would
develop Indian capabilities to integrate and maintain the radar and
electronic warfare sensors at the Nagpur facility along with an Indian
supply chain for manufacturing microwave technologies and high
performance airborne electronics.

Currently, the Reliance Group's
flagship company, Reliance Communications, is embroiled in court cases
brought by minority shareholders, and stemming from its inability to
repay lenders. The group has debts of $18 billion. A senior official at
the Indian MoD has questioned the status of Reliance Defence, since the
MoD’s Defense Procurement Policy is very strict on the credit rating of
vendors. However, a Reliance official at the Nagpur facility told AIN:
“The legal case has nothing to do with Reliance Defence, which is a part
of [a separate] subsidiary, Reliance Infrastructure.”

Trappier
said that Dassault is busy responding to the recently released RFI for
110 more fighters. The request cites 75 percent of these as
single-seaters and the remainder as two-seaters. A maximum of 15 percent
of the aircraft would be delivered in a flyaway state, with the
remainder to be made in India by a Strategic Partner/Indian Production
Agency. The current RFI dropped an earlier stipulation that the new
fighters be single-engine.
But the Dassault chief declined to confirm that Reliance would be the
partner in bidding for the 110 fighters. “There is a process of the RFI,
and we will see at the time of the Request for Proposal…there is
nothing as of now,” he said. “We need a variety of other suppliers [and]
we are ready to transfer technology, because my government supports
this and our own commitment to India,” he added.

Trappier also
noted that the Indian Navy requirement for 57 carrier-capable fighters
would be best met by the Rafale naval variant. However, the seaborne
Rafale currently used by the French is built for CATOBAR operations
(catapult assisted takeoff but arrested recovery). The Indian Navy's
current aircraft carrier INS Vikramaditya and the forthcoming Indigenous
Aircraft Carrier-1 are designed for STOBAR operations (short takeoff
but arrested recovery)